Knockdown toy



March 11; 1958 H. H. FlscHMAN ET AL 2,826,000

` KNOCKDOWN TOY Filed Jan. 23, 1957 BY. y? /prawa Unite 2,826,000Patented Mar. l1, 1958 KNUCKDWN TOY Harry H. Fischnian and Ercole J.Manelia, Chicago, lll.; said Mariella assigner to said FischmanApplication lanuary 23, 1h57, Serial No. 635,626

ll Claims. (Cl. to-22) This invention relates to a toy and moreparticularly to a put together construction toy utilizing inflatablearticles such as toy balloons.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide means for readyattachment to toy balloons or the like whereby a plurality of balloonsmay be connected together in the nature of a construction toy to form aput together built up toy object.

Another object is to provide means whereby toy balloons may be readilyconnected together by a child to form any number of put together builtup objects, simulating construction sets used by children.

lt is recognized that construction sets of various kinds and build upattaching blocks have a great fascination and educational value forchildren, in that by connecting the parts the child is required to usehis imagination and his skill in forming various assembled put togethertoy objects. After the child has completed one object, the parts may bedisassembled and re-arranged to form other toy objects. This inventionaims to provide such a construction toy by the use of inflatable objectssuch as toy balloons which are relatively inexpensive as contrasted toother types of put together toys.

The child is afforded a great deal of play and educational value inconstructing various objects made up of inilatable balloons inaccordance with this invention. The assembled objects are relativelylarge due to the use of the inatable balloons. The parts are simple andinexpensive and utilize in the main conventional toy balloons which maybe readily replaced if broken or busted. Thus as contrasted with othertypes of construction toys which become obsolete by the loss of some ofthe parts, the present invention retains its play value it some of theballoons are lost or busted because they may be augmented or replaced byany conventional toy balloon purchasable in any candy or childs supplystore.

Another object of this invention is to provide attaching means for toyballoons which attaching means is self contained in that it becomes apart of the balloon as long as it is attached thereto and requires noattachment to another balloon to render it effective. ln other wordseach balloon then becomes a self contained building member and isattachable to other balloons by the use of a connector which does notaiiect the attaching means. Each balloon may therefore be handledseparately and put together with otherballoons in a manner similar tothe way building blocks are handled.

Other objects will become apparent as this description progresses.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a view showing a put-together toy formed in accordance withthis invention.

Fig. 2 is a View showing another put-together object in the form of theletters of the alphabet.

Fig. 3 is a view of the attaching means secured to two balloons and aconnector therebetween.

Figure 4 is an enlarged view partly in cross section .preferably ofplastic material.

taken on lines 4-4 of Fig. 3 and showing the manner of securing theattaching means to the balloon.

Fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the parts constituting theattaching means.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the plug member of the attaching means, and

Fig. 7 is a cross sectional view of a modified form of attaching means,and showing a modified form of ring.

The preferred form of the invention is shown in Figs. l to 6, inclusive.The inflatable toy balloon is of conventional construction purchasableon the market. Said conventional toy balloons are usually of two types,one the ball or globe type when inilated and the other the elongatedtype which assumes a somewhat sausage shape when inllated. Theseballoons which come in various sizes may be connected together inaccordance with this invention to form an unlimited number and varietyof assembled toy objects and then may be disassembled and detached to beused as conventional balloons if desired or to form other toy objects.

The globe or ball type of balloon is designated by the numeral l0 andthe elongated sausage type of balloon is designated by the numeral l2..Obviously any other type or shaped balloon may be used.

The attaching means generally indicated at i4 and best shown in Figs. 4and 5 includes a rigid ring like member generally indicated at ld and aplug like member generally indicated at lli, both of which are formedThe opposite faces 17 and i9 of the ring are substantially flat. Theplug member 13 which is integrally formed comprises a body portion 2oand an enlarged head 22 which is rounded as at 23 at its outer end. Thehead 22 is provided with intersecting slots 24 which form a cross andwhich appear as four radially extending slots. Each of said slotscontinues downwardly and extends into the body portion 20 as at 26 for aportion of the length of the body. This provides the plug particularlyat the head portion with a resiliency or give to permit compression ofthe head when it is inserted in the ring lr6 as will be described. Theplug has a central longitudinal bore 2S which tapers outwardly to itslargest circumference adjacent the outer end of the body.

To connect the attaching means i4 to the balloon, the ring 16 isinserted or dropped into the balloon (of either type) through the mouth11 of the balloon (when in non-inflated condition) and moved to anyportion of the balloon where the connection is desired to be made andpositioned against the rubber on the underside of the balloon. The plug18 on the outside of the balloon is then brought into alignment with thering 16 with the head 22 of the plug positioned and resting against theoutside of the rubber of the balloon and adjacent the ring. The plug ispushed inwardly into the ring head rst with the rubber material aroundit. The head 22 of the plug thus compresses due to the slots 24 to allowthe head to pass inside and through the ring, after which the headexpands to surround the ring as best shown in Fig. -4. The balloonmaterial is gathered around the head 22, the ring 16 and around aportion of the body 2@ and the ring and plug are detachably locked tothe balloon.

The plug and ring thus secured to the balloon renders each balloon andits attaching means a self-contained unit ready for immediate use. lnother words, each balloon thus becomes in effect a separate selfcontained member available for the building of a toy object and hencedoes not require the joining of two balloons at the time the attachingmeans are applied to the balloons as is necessary in the structure ofthe prior art.

With the attaching means applied to each balloon, the

aseaooo balloon is inated in the conventional manner and the mouth ofthe balloon is tied or otherwise secured to retain the air therein. Eachiniiated balloon thus in eiect becomes a separate building block and maybe retained in inated position with its respective attaching means readyfor immediate use so that a plurality of balloons may be connectedtogether in any arrangement desired merely by insertion of the connectorrod to be described.

A major portion of the body of the plug 29 extends outwardly of theballoon as best seen in Figs. 3 and 4. The plug is then ready to receiveone end of a connector rod or dowel generally indicated at 3S. Theconnector rod or dowel may be of any length and is formed preferably ofplastic or like material. However, wooden rods will serve with equalfacility. The rod is inserted in the tapered bore 28 and will, due tothe radial slots 24- and 2d in the head and body of the plug cause thebody and head to give sutiiciently to frictionally retain the rodagainst accidental removal. The inner tapered end of the bore 28 willlimit the extent to which the rod may be inserted in the bore and theend of the connector rod 3l) will not engage the rubber of the balloonto permit any puncturing thereof.

Another attaching means le similar to that described is connected toanother balloon in the same manner, and the opposite end of rod Si? isinserted in the bore thereof to rigidly connect the two balloonstogether. By providing rods 3d of various lengths the spacing betweenballoons may be varied to permit various arrangements. Also severalattaching means ld may be connected to a balloon, for example as shownin Fig. 1 to permit a plurality of balloons to be connected in thenature of legs to form a simulated human ligure or an animal tigure. Theballoons may be readily detached from the connector by slipping theconnector rod Sil out of the plug 1S and attachments to other balloonsmay be made.

A few of the unlimited number of put-together toys that may be formedare shown merely by way of illustration in Figs. l and 2.

ln Fig. l the lowermost connector rods 30 have their l lower endsdetachably and frictionally secured in suitable openings in a supportingdisc or base 32 formed of cardboard or the like. lf the put-togetherobject is a toy animal with more than two legs the supporting base maybe eliminated.

Fig. 2 shows a pair of the elongated type balloons 12 arranged andconnected together to form the letter D of the alphabet. All the lettersof the alphabet may be formed by a similar arrangement utilizing theprinciple of this invention.

If desired the attaching means 14 may be readily removed from anyballoon by merely pulling outwardly on the plug 18 to compress the headZ2 and permit its passage past the ring to unlock the ring and plug andthe ring is then removed through the mouth of the balloon.

No damage is done to the balloon by the manner of securing the attachingmeans thereto and the attaching means may be repeatedly connected to ordetached from the balloon without injury thereto. It may be readilyattached to any portion of the balloon and this procedure is so simplethat it may be easily done by any child and requires no training.

Fig. 7 shows a modified form of plug generally indicated at 3d. The plughas a body portion 36, a reduced neck 33 and a head 4d of substantiallythe circumference of the body portion 36. rl`he head is provided withtour slots t2 similar to slots 24 to render the head compressible. Theplug body is provided with a tapered bore 44 similar to the bore 28. Thering 16 may be identical to the ring 16 previously described or may beprovided with a split lob to render said ring slightly eX- pansi'olewhen the head ttl is inserted therethough. Attaching the plug 34 to theballoon is accomplished in the same manner as described in connectionwith Figs. l to 6, however in Fig. 7 the plug is locked to the ringaround the neck portion 38, with the ring positioned between theopposite shoulder 46 and 47. This modied plug is connected to connectorrods identical in the manner previously described. The split ring shownin Fig. 7 is formed of a rigid material preferably of plastic and isrigid throughout as is ring 16 except that it gives or expands slightlydue to the split portion when the head of the plug is being inserted andthen assumes its preformed shape after the head is passed through tolock the plug and ring together in the balloon.

The split ring shown in Fig. 7 may also be used in lieu of the ring 16in connection with the plug shown in Figs. l to 6 inclusive, lt may befound desirable when in using the split ring shown in Fig. 7 toeliminate the slots 2d in the head 22 (Figs. l to 6) or the slots 42 inthe head 40 and make said heads solid as the expansion or give of thesplit ring will permit the head to be inserted therein and through thering to lock the ring and plug together.

It will be understood that various changes and modications may be madefrom the foregoing without departing from the spirit and scope of theappended claims.

We claim:

l. In a toy formed of a plurality of inflatable bodies cach providedwith means for permitting inflation thereof, each inliated body havingseparate attaching means comprising a ring formed of rigid materialinserted inside each said inflatable body and a separate member for eachof said iniatable bodies and each separate member provided with a headengaging the outside of said inflatable body, said head being normallylarger than the opening in said ring, said head being compressible andinsertable in each said ring with a portion of the material of saidinflatable body for locking engagement therewith to retain each saidmember against removal from said inflatable body, and to form with eachinflatable body an inllatable unit separate and independent of the otherinflatable unit, each said member having means outwardly of saidinflatable body for ready connection with a connecting member to connectsaid inatable bodies to form a put-together toy, each said inflatableunit being connectable to and disconnectable from said connecting memberwhile inflated or deflated and without effecting the attachment of theattaching means to any of the inatable units.

2. In a toy formed of a plurality of inflatable bodies each providedwith means for permitting ination thereof, each inflatable body havingseparate attaching means comprising a split ring formed of rigidmaterial insertable inside each said inflatable body and a memberprovided with a head engaging the outside of each said inatable body,said head being normally larger than the opening in said ring andinsertable in each said split ring with a portion of the material ofsaid inflatable body by expanding said ring for locking engagementtherewith to retain said member against removal from said inflatablebody, and to form with each inatable body an intlatable unit separateand independent of the other inflatable unit, each said member havingmeans outwardly of each said inatable body for ready connection with aconnecting member to form a put-together toy, each said inflatable unitbeing connectable to and disconnectable from said connecting memberwhile inflated or deflated and without effecting the attachment of theattaching means to any of the inflatable units.

3. ln a toy formed of a plurality of iuatable balloons each providedwith means for permitting inliation thereof, each of said balloonshaving separate attaching means comprising a ring inserted inside eachsaid balloon and a plug for each of said rings having a head normallylarger than the opening in said ring and provided with slots to rendersaid head compressible when inserted in said ring, said head engagingthe outside of its respective balloon and insertable in its respectivering with a portion of said balloon for locking engagement therewith toretain said plug against removal, and to form with each balloon aballoon unit separate and independent of the other balloon unit, eachsaid plug having a bore extending outwardly of its said balloon, aconnecting rod connectable in said bores to connect the balloonstogether to form a put-together toy, each said balloon unit beingconnectable to and disconnectable from said connecting member whileinflated or deiiated and without eiecting the attaching means to any ofthe balloons.

4. A toy formed of a plurality of toy balloons each provided with meansfor permitting ination thereof, each said balloon having separateattaching means comprising a ring member insertable inside said balloonand a plug having a head member tor insertion in said ring member, saidhead member being normally larger than the opening in said ring member,at least one of said members being sufliciently resilient with respectto the other to permit insertion of said head member in said ringmember, said head member engaging the outside of said balloon andinsertable in said ring member with a portion of said balloon forlocking said balloon between said ring member and said plug, to formwith each balloon a balloon unit separate and independent of the otherballoon unit, each said plug having a longitudinal bore extendingoutwardly of its balloon, a connecting rod frictionally and detachablyretained in said bores to connect the balloons together to form aput-together toy, each said balloon unit being connectable to anddisconnectable trom said connecting rod while inated or deflated andwithout eliecting the attachment of the attaching means to any of theballoons.

5. A toy formed of a plurality of toy balloons each provided with meansfor permitting inilation thereof, each said balloon having separateattaching means comprising a ring member insertable inside said balloonand a plug having a head and a body portion, said head being normallylarger than the opening in said ring and having radially extending slotsto render said head compressible for insertion into said ring, saidhea-d engaging the outside of said balloon and insertable in said ringwith a portion of said balloon for locking said balloon between saidring and said plug to form with each balloon a balloon unit separate andindependent of the other balloon unit, said body portion each having alongitudinally tapered bore opening outwardly of its balloon andprovided with slots communicating with said bore, and a connecting rodfrictionally and detachably retained in said bores to connect theballoons together to form a put-together toy, each said balloon unitbeing connectable to and disconnectable from said connecting rod whileiniiated or deflated and without effecting the connection of the otherballoon unit.

6. In a toy formed of a plurality of intlatable balloons each providedwith means for permitting iniiation thereof, connector means connectedto each said intlatable balloon whereby each said balloon forms aseparate and independent self-contained unit ready for attachment toanother similar self-contained balloon unit without disturbing theconnector means of each balloon unit, each connector means comprising aring insertable in the balloon and a member having a head portionnormally larger than the opening in said ring, said head portion beingsufficiently resilient to permit insertion ot said head portion in saidring, said head portion engaging the outside of the balloon andinsertable in said ring for locking engagement therewith to retain saidmember against removal from said balloon, and connecting means connectedto said members for joining said inflatable balloon units to form aput-together toy, said balloon units each being connectable to anddisconnectable from said connecting means while inflated or deliated andwithout eecting the connection of the other balloon unit.

7. In a toy formed of a plurality of toy balloons each balloon having abody portion and a mouth opening for permitting ination and detlationthereof, each balloon having separate attaching means comprising a firstmember and a second member, said rst and second members being soconstructed to provide resiliency between said members to permit passageof said second member into said first member, said first member insertable inside said body portion through said mouth opening and adapted toengage the inside of the imperforate wall of said body portion, saidsecond member engaging the olutside imperforate wall of said bodyportion and adapted to interlock with said first member and gather aportion of said imperforate wall therebetween to retain said rst andsecond members against removal and to form with each balloon a balloonunit separate and independent of the other balloon unit, said secondmembers each extending outwardly of its balloon and each having aconnecting end, means for connecting said connecting ends to connectsaid balloons together to form a put-together toy, each said balloonunit being connectable to and disconnectable from the other balloonunits while iniiated or deiiated and without etecting the attachment ofthe attaching means to any of the balloons.

8. In a toy formed of a plurality of toy balloons each balloon having abody portion and a mouth opening for permitting inliation and deiiationthereof, each balloon having separate attaching means comprising a rstmember and a second member, said first member insertable inside saidbody portion through said mouth opening and adapted to engage the insideof the imperforate wall of said body portion, said second memberengaging the outside imperforate wall of said body portion and adaptedto interlock with said rst member and gather a portion of saidimperforate wall therebetween to retain said tirst and second membersagainst removal and to form with each balloon a balloon unit separateand independent of the other balloon unit, said second members eachextending outwardly of its balloon and each having a connecting end, aconnecting member secured to said connecting ends to connect saidballoons together to form a puttogether toy, each said balloon unitbeing connectable to and disconnectable from said connecting memberwhile inflated or deated and without effecting the attachment of theattaching means to any of the balloons.

9. In a toy formed of toy balloons each balloon having a body portionand a mouth opening for permitting intlation and deation thereof, eachballoon having separate attaching means comprising a rst member and asecond member, said rst and second members being so constructed toprovide resiliency between said members to permit passage of said secondmember into said first member, said lirst member insertable inside saidbody portion through said mouth opening and adapted to engage the insideof the imperforate wall of said body portion, said second memberengaging the outside imperforate wall of said body portion and adaptedto interlock with said tirst member and gather a portion of saidimperforate wall therebetween to lock said iirst and second membersagainst removal and to form with each balloon a balloon unit separateand independent of the other balloon unit, said second member having abore opening outwardly of its balloon, a separate connecting rod havingits opposite ends attachable in the bores of two balloon units wheninflated for assembling a puttogether toy, each said balloon unit beingdetachable from said connecting rod while inated or deflated withouteffecting the attachment of the attaching means to any of the balloons.

l0. In a toy formed of toy balloons each balloon having a body portionand a mouth opening for permitting iniiation and deation thereof, eachballoon having separate attaching means comprising a ring and a plughaving a head, said ring and said head being so constructed to provideresiliency therebetween to permit passage of said head into said ring,said ring insertable inside said body portion through said mouth openingand adapted to engage the inside of the imperforate Wall of said bodyportion, said head engaging the outside imperforate Wall of said bodyportion and adapted to pass into said ring to interlock with said ringand gather a portion of said imperforate wall therebetween to retainsaid ring and plug against removal and to form with each balloon aballoon unit separate and independent of the other balloon unit, meansbetween said plugs for detachably connecting said plugs together whensaid balloons are inated for assembling a put-together toy, each saidballoon unit being detachable from the other balloon unit While inflatedor deiiated and Without effecting the `attachment of the attaching meansto any of the balloons.

11. in a toy formed of a plurality of toy balloons each balloon having abody portion and a mouth opening for permitting inflation and deflationthereof, each balloon having separate attaching means comprising a rstmember and a second member, said first member having an opening thereinand insel-table inside said body portion through said mouth opening andadapted to engage the inside of the imperforate wall of said bodyportion, said second member having a head insertable in said opening andengaging the outside imperforate wall of said body portion and adaptedto interlock with said rst member 8 and gather a portion of saidimperforate wall therebetween to retain said first and second membersagainst removal and to form with each balloon a balloon unit separateand independent of the other balloon unit, said second members eachextending outwardly of its balloon and each having a connecting end,means for connecting said connecting ends to connect said balloonstogether to form a put-together toy, each said balloon unit beingconnectable to and disconnectable from the other balloon units Whileinflated or deflated and without effecting the attachment of theattaching means to any of the balloons.

References Cited in the ile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,223,508 Meyner Apr. 24, 1917 1,399,730 Abe Dec. 13, 1921 2,008,552Jacobs July 16, 1935 2,075,033 Garner Mar. 30, 1937 2,377,616 Davis June5, 1945 2,472,235 Sullivan June 7, 1949 2,529,420 Ramquist Nov. 7, 19502,542,361 Roxburgh Feb. 20, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 13,931 Great Britain A.D. 1908 71,233 Holland Nov. 15, 1952

